I tend to stay away from covering cheap, lesser-known handhelds that get announced out of China, for the simple reason that most of them are not very good, and new ones are being revealed every week.
However, the Miniloong Pocket 1 caught my attention. It's an affordable retro handheld releasing in China to begin with, that starts at $42 for early birds (eventually retailing for $54).
I have never heard of Miniloong before this, but they showed off the device with a promotional video on BilliBilli that reveals removable faceplates and replaceable buttons, which is the first time we've seen this in sub $100 retro handhelds.
Video creidt: Miniloong
Specifications (Known So Far)
- 4" 4:3 Display (960 x 720) - 450 Nits
- RK3566 Quad-core Cortex-A55 CPU
- Mali-G52 GPU 800 MHz
- 1GB RAM
- 4000MAH Battery
- LoongOS
- LED Joystick
- USB-C Charging
- 3.5mm Headphone Jack
- Bluetooth & Wifi
The removable faceplates are attached with magnets, so they can be easily replaced. The DPAD can also be removed should you want a different design, which I believe comes with a selection of two in the box.
In terms of specifications, this is a very, very old chipset that they are using, likely because there are still thousands available to purchase, and it keeps the price low, which it does indeed.
This CPU and spec combo will likely only get you up to great PS1 emulation performance, which isn't exciting, but actually, on a 4" 4:3 display, that's all many of us will need.
Pre-orders in China begin on 29th November at 10:00 am, with a 72-hour window to secure the early bird price. There is no news on when this will get a Western release, which is sad to hear, but I can imagine something like this will make its way to us, eventually.
It's a very interesting-looking device that I will certainly be keeping my eyes on. It's either going to be pretty darn good for the price if the build quality is of a good standard, or it's going to be another toy that we have wasted our time on.
